Impact of Access to Extension Services on Yield and Income of Cooperative Members in South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

Adoption of improved agricultural technologies is encouraged by access to extension services. This study evaluated the effect of having access to extension services on the income and output of members of agricultural cooperative societies in Abia and Anambra states of Nigeria. One hundred and twenty respondents were chosen from the cooperative societies using a multistage sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used to gather primary data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Frequency tables, percentages, and mean thresholds of four- and five-point Likert scale measurements were employed as descriptive statistics while simple linear regression was used as inferential statistics. Only 38% of the respondents had extension contact in the year under review, according to the findings, and the majority (53.3%) only visited once in year. Additionally, the findings showed that the respondents had a high level of utilization of cassava production and value-addition technologies as well as sweet potato production and value-addition technologies. The low extension farmer ratio, the distance from the farm to the extension office, the high cost of transportation, insecurity, credit availability, cultural obstacles, inaccessible roads, and poor communication were the main challenges to accessing extension in the study area. At 5% and 1% levels of significance, access to extension had a positive and significant impact on the farmers' yield and income respectively. To close the low extension agent-farmer gap, the study advocated policies focused on the deployment of more logistical, financial, and human resources to improve agricultural extension delivery services through the ADPs.